Man on the run for 24 years arrested after failing immigration clearance at Changi Airport

AI generated

SINGAPORE - A man who had been on the run since 2002 was arrested 24 years later after he failed to clear immigration at Changi Airport in March 2026.

Tan Khi Wie, 58, had attempted to clear immigration using an Indonesian passport under the false identity of “Ken Srona”.

In a joint statement on Aug 11, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said ICA officers conducted further checks on him after he was unable to complete immigration clearance at the automated lanes.

It was revealed he was wanted by SPF. He was detained and handed over to them.

According to court records on Aug 11, Tan was sentenced to 11 months and 15 weeks’ jail after pleading guilty to five charges under the Immigration Act, including failure to present a valid passport, producing a false passport and illegal departure.

He also admitted to one count of failing to attend court.

Tan was earlier sentenced to 18 months’ jail in August 2002 after his conviction for cheating the then-Singapore Productivity and Standards Board into disbursing a grant of $195,800 under the Local Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme.

He filed a notice of appeal against his conviction and sentence that month.

To avoid serving his sentence, he absconded from Singapore and later failed to show up at a court mention in January 2003.

On Feb 20, 2003, a warrant of arrest was issued against him.

According to the court system, his latest jail term will begin after he serves the 18-month sentence he was handed in 2002.

Fishing boat escape

Investigations by ICA revealed that Tan had departed Singapore illegally on a fishing boat between August 2002 and January 2003.

He first travelled to Pasir Gudang in Johor, Malaysia, before continuing to Thailand, and later to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he eventually lived.

Between 2011 and 2016, Tan had used Indonesian passports under the false identity of “Ken Srona” to enter and depart Singapore on multiple occasions.

He also falsely declared in his disembarkation forms he had never used a passport under a different name to enter Singapore.

ICA said it has strengthened its immigration clearance processes and systems by leveraging biometrics and data analytics.

For example, multimodal biometric systems have been in place at the checkpoints since July 2020 to better detect those using multiple or assumed identities.

All automated lanes at Singapore’s land, sea and air checkpoints are also equipped with iris and facial scanners.

Said ICA: “The concurrent use of these biometric identifiers provides highly accurate means of authenticating travellers’ identities and further strengthens ICA’s ability to safeguard Singapore’s borders.

“ICA will not hesitate to take firm action against travellers who attempt to enter or depart Singapore using an impersonated identity or an identity different from that used during their previous trips to Singapore in order to circumvent ICA’s checks.”

In February, ICA said close to 245 million travellers passed through Singapore’s checkpoints in 2025, surpassing the 230 million figure seen the previous year.

ICA officers also detected 223 cases of travellers using multiple identities in 2025, compared with 233 cases in 2024.

The agency said these travellers could have been persons of interest to the authorities as they could have previously committed crimes in Singapore and are banned from re-entering.

During the ICA Workplan Seminar in May, it was announced that ICA will begin self-service trials in the second half of 2026 with a system that uses an AI-driven quality checker for fingerprints to register biometrics for new citizens, PRs and long-term immigration pass holders.

ICA will also introduce an AI anomaly detection initiative to check submitted documents for irregularities.